Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the best Self-Defense for Women

Amongst all martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most efficient form of self-defense for women. But let me tell you why.

Recently, Saddleback College TV interviewed me on the subject of martial arts for women. The hostess asked me why I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and why I think Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the best martial arts for women.

My personal opinion is that women should be training martial arts more than men.

Most men consider women a fragile gender; therefore, some men take advantage of this by using their dominant strength to physically attack women. Surprisingly most women are still relying on their male companion to defend them. But who will defend these women from them?

the national statistics, 1 out of 6 women will be sexually assaulted within their lifetime. Approximately 2/3 of sexual assaults were committed by someone known to the victim. Of those, 38% are a friend or acquaintance, 28% are an intimate, and 7% are a relative.

These are alarming numbers, and let’s also consider that sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes with 60% of

So, This is one of the reasons that makes me believe that every woman must know some form of self-defense. Besides sexual assault, there is also domestic violence, kidnapping and mugging.

Now… why do I believe BJJ is the best self-defense for women?

Actually, there is not only one reason, there are many.

First, when a man attacks a woman, the male attacker rarely uses any kind of striking. Instead, the attacker uses grabbing, throwing and possibly tries to choke the victim, which we call “hands-on” attack.

Coincidently, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the only martial art that addresses 100% of these kinds of attacks. No other martial art in the world, besides BJJ will provide women the tools to defend themselves when thrown on the ground, grabbed or being choked.

Secondly, other martial arts like Krav Maga, claim to teach women “effective real street fighting techniques” to defend themselves in those situations. They teach women how to hit the attacker on the nose, or strike the attackers genitalia, etc. It looks cool but the problem is these martial arts styles cannot prove that these kinds of

defenses will work in a real self-defense situation. Imagine during every Krav Maga training session you would actually break your partner’s nose or strike their genitalia to see if the technique works. Soon you would hurt all of your teammates and deprive them from ever having kids again.

I’ve been in real street fights before, and I can assure you that the chances that a woman will stop an attacker by using any of these techniques including strikes is close to none. Quite the contrary, by using these techniques they will only aggravate the situation making the attacker angrier and more aggressive.

If you have ever been in a real fight you should know that the adrenaline masquerades most of the physical pain someone can cause with these techniques, allowing the attacker to go on with his fight.

I’m very concerned with these kinds of false claims. The life or even the virtue of every woman is in danger if they rely on a weak method of self-defense against attacks like sexual assault, domestic violence or even kidnapping.

At Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Women’s Self-Defense program in San Clemente, our students do real sparring training where their partners are trying to grab, choke, throw and use many other ways of attacking. We even have gun and knife defenses.

At Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu San Clemente, our students learn how to choke a man unconscious, how to break their opponents’ arms, hands, knees, ankles and shoulders. And we do all that without hurting any of our training partners.

How is that possible?

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we have techniques called “submission holds”. When a student gets another student in a submission hold like a choke or an arm-bar, the victim is instructed to tap out three times to let their partner know that they are giving up; therefore, keeping the class a safe environment.

So now, I have a question for you. What do you think is more effective for women, striking their attacker with a small window of hitting the right spot to stop the attacker in his tracks, or choking the attacker unconscious… or break his arm… or wrist or knee?

I think common sense can answer this question for you.

Anyways…

Above all, if you are a woman, you should give yourself a chance to at least counter attack. Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is now offering a 30-day free trial in case you want to try us out and let us prove to you how efficient our method of self-defense is.

About Paulo

Paulo Guillobel is a 5th degree black belt instructor and world champion in BJJ, he teaches at Guillobel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu San Clemente, Orange County at 621 N El Camino Real, Suite A. The America's Top Kids, men and women Martial Arts Empowerment Program.